Display apparatus



Jan. 25 1... R. MCDONALD DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed March. 3

1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1|. u n H h u u M 3 n n u u u u Z 1 n u I n n r u u m T n u 11 u u n u n IL. fiwmmJ ifiiiii i r 4 HmI I I m x H H H H HWWwwmmmmw mmmhv hh mwu n l lul l /ll 1 I I I I I'd H 7 5 8 6 Z 2 r l l l 1 I l l I l l I l I I I I l I l I l I I l l l I I I l I I l l I I I I I I I I l I I I I l I I I I I llL IN V EN TOR, 06w zz'igm fl. i 44 W ATTORNEY,

Jan. 25 1927.

l -Z3 12 q 15:

INVEN TOR, alulzz Z: 53'm&l

A TTORNE).

Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

UNITED STATES LESLIE R. MGDONALD, F MONTREAL QUEBEC, CANADA.

DISPLAY APPARATUS.

Application filed March 3, 1926. Serial No. 91,877.

My invention relates to that class of display apparatuses wherein flexible placards are wound around a rotatable holder and are released and allowed to unroll, one by one,

and successively drop into view position,

particularly to that class of such apparatuses wherein the rearmost placard is lifted bodily so as to facilitate its falling forward over the carrier and unrolling to expose its face; and my improvements are directed to means whereby the hanging placards, with the exception'of the rear-most one, are positively gripped and held so as to prevent their being oarried up out of their order under the influence of the rearmostplacard when it is raised.

Other objects of my invention are to facilitate the hanging of'the placards vertically instead of sloping forward toward their hottoms; to intermittently release and grasp the [placard pack as the carrier turns step by step; and to secure these results by novel mechanism as will be hereinafter pointed out and explained.

This improvement is adapted for application to a display apparatus of'the type illustrated in my Letters Patent No. 1,567,281, of December 29th, 1925, the placard carrier and the carrier rotating means being similar to those shown in my said patent, for which reason I have not illustrated them again in detail in this application.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front view of an apparatus illustrating the embodiment of my improvements; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken as on the line 2. 2 of Fig. 1, looking to the right, medial portions being omitted to shorten the view, and part of one of the plates and of the end of the placard carrier being broken away the better to show the construction beyond them; Fig. 3 is a detail, on a still further enlarged scale, of the sheet gripping mechanism, taken as looking to the left on Fig. 2, medial portions being broken out for the purpose of saving space; Fig. 4 is a view of the same, taken as looking to the right on Fig. 3, part of one of the wing plates and bearing rod being broken away for clearness, Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sheet gripper, taken as looking up on Fig.4; and Fig. 6' is a diagrammatic illustration of the manner in whichthe sheets are held between the bearing rod. and gripper.

In, all the figures similar parts are designated by corresponding reference numerals.

The case 1 is of any suitable or conventional form, and is provided with an open or glazed front 2, as is customary in apparatuses of this character. The placard carrier 3 corresponds to the composite placard carrier 11, 1-2, 13 of my aforesaid patent, and is mounted and operated in the same manner,being hung from a, transverse, bar 5 by arms 15, only one of which is, shown in the drawings, carrying the ends of the axle 16 of the carrier, one of the arms being pro vided with an extension 17 carrying a roller 19 traveling on a cam 4: on a shaft 39. A shaft 22 is mounted rotatablyin bearings in the frame, and is provided with one or more lifting rollers 23 preferably of soft rubber. A. pawl 24 is hung on the bar 5; and another pawl 29 is pivoted in the end of the. case. The pawlsengage the teeth .on the disk end 2380f the carrier. The shaft 22 is driven anti-clockwise, and the shaft 39 clockwise, throughsuitable gearing froma source of power. The rotation of the t, through the roller extension 17 and arms 15, cause-s the placard carrier to swing forward and back, and, under the control of the pawls 24; and 29, to be rotated step by step. The swinging ofthe placard carrier carries it away from, or back I to the rollers 28, which, on the back swing: of the. carrier, engage the rearmost placard and lift it upward and forward. These operations are fully described in my aforesaid patent. The cam 4. corresponds to. the cam 27 of my afore said patent.

In my present improvement, 6 is. a lever, pivoted 7' to the end frame 8 mounted in the case, one end of the lever being provided with a roller 9 against which the cam d travels, and the other end, 10, of the lever being pivoted to a rod" 11, the lower end of which is, inturn, pivoted to an arm 12, carried by a rod 13-, journall'ed in arms 14, 15, supported by the frame of the mechanism. A "hearing rod 18 is secured between the lower ends of. the arms 14 and 15, and is disposed so that the placards shall hang down closein front of it. Suitable means, such as a coiled spring 20, fastened at one end of the shaft 13 and anchored at the other end to the carrying arms, as through a transverse bar 21, operates tonorrnally turn the shaft 18 so that the roller 9 is kept to duty against the cam 4.

- Guide plates or wings 25', 26 are fastened to the respective ends of the hangers 14, 15,

and are disposed outside, one on each side, of the space occupied by the hanging placards.

From the upper and outer corner of each guide plate a flange 27 or 28 is turned outward, as shown in the drawings, so as to form a notch in the corner of the guide plate, with an outwardly extending shelf beyond it.

On the shaft 13 are fastened two arms 30 and 31, which swing with the shaft, the mechanism being so adjusted that the movement of the arms is between the bearing rod 18 and the notches in the corners of the guide plates.

On the end of these arms are pivoted sheet grippers 32, 33, each having two arms disposed at right angles to each other, one of them being adapted to slide against the adjacent guide plate, while the other arm is projected out over the placard receiving space.

These grippers 32 and 33 are adjusted to have a normal inclination to rotate outward against their adjacent guide plates, this result being obtained by suitable means such as springs 34, 35, each having one end anchored as on the shaft 13, and the other end connected with its cooperating gripper as by entering thehole therein; the springs being tensed by being sprung over pins 36, 37 so as to cause the grippers to have a normal inclination to rotate outward.

If the shaft 13 is rotated so that the grippers rise above the level of the flanges 27, 28, the springs 34 and 35 will cause the grippers to rotate ninety degrees so that one end of each gripper Wlll turn outward above and be raised upon a flange 27 or 28, and the other end of the gripper will project upward, but outside of the area in which the placards lie.

The adjustment of the apparatus is such that the end of the last placard normally hangs just above and free from the bearing rod 18, while one end of each gripper is extended over in front of the hanging placards and is pressed back against them by the action of the cam 41- and the intermediate mechanism. The grippers and bearing rod thus cooperate as downhold means for the placards between them. This leaves the rear most sheet free to be lifted by the lifting mechanism, for instance, that illustrated in my aforesaid Patent No. 1,567,281, without displacing or disarranging the other placards because of the friction of the rearmost placard against the pack. When the placard has been lifted and is about to fall forward, it is necessary to remove the grippers from the space into which the placard will fall. This is accomplished by the rotation of the cam 4, the smaller diameter of which, reaching the roller 9, allows that end of the lever 6 to swing up, thereby causing the shaft 13 to rotate and to raise the arms 30 and 31 until their grippers are above the flanges 27 and 28, respectively, when the grippers will rotate outwardly so as to stand outside of the placard receiving space. The placard then falls; the rotation of the cam 4 continuing reverses the movement of the shaft 13 and arms 30 and 31, lowering the arms until the grippers rest against the placard pack, and pressing thereagainst so as to prevent the disarrangement of the placards during the next lifting operation.

It will be understood that the rotation of one step by the placard carrier again raises its rearmost placard above the bearing rod 18.

I wish it to be understood that the embodiment of my invention which I have illustrated and described is to be considered as a typical, and not as an exclusive, form.

For as will be readil a) )reciated by those i.-

familiar with the art, the details of mechanism can be varied as by the use of equivalents, and the like, without departing from the spirit of my invention as described and claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a display apparatus, the combination of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, a series of flexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard, and downhold means for positively gripping all of the placards butthe rearmost one.

2. In a display apparatus, the combination of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, a series of fiexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard, and downhold means for alternately gripping and releasing all of the placards but the rearmost one.

3. In a display apparatus, the combination of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, :1 series of flexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard, and downhold means for gripping all the placards in front. of the last one, while it is being raised, and alternately releasing the placards when the carrier is rotated.

4. In a display apparatus, the combination of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, a series of flexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard successively, and downhold means, embodying resistance means disposed behind the placards, and cooperating pressing means engaging against the front of the foremost placard, for positively gripping all of the placards but the rearmost one.

5. In a display apparatus, the combination of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, a series of flexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard successively, and downhold means embodying resistance means disposed. behind the placards, and cooperating pressing means intermittently engaging against the front of the foremost placard, for positively gripping all of the placards but the rearmost one.

6. In a display apparatus, the combina tion of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, a series of flexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard,

downhold means embodying movable grippers, for engaging the hanging portions of the other placards and means for intermittently removing the movable grippers out of the path of the forwardly falling placards.

7. In a display apparatus, the combination of means for supporting a plurality of flexible placards; means for lifting and throwing over and forward, successively, the rearmost placards, and positively acting means for engaging the opposite sides of and gripping and holding down all but the rearmost placard during each lifting operation.

8. In a display apparatus, the combination of placard carrier rotating means and a rotatable placard carrier, a series of flexible placards each attached by one end thereto and partially rolled thereupon with their free ends depending therefrom, means for engaging and raising the rearmost placard, downhold means, means for projecting the downhold means in front of and against the foremost placard, and means for intermit tently withdrawing such downhold means, the downhold means being actuated by the carrier rotating means.

LESLIE R. MoDONALD. 

